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Stony Brook University -- A Globally Ranked Institution

Stony Brook University was founded in 1957 on a site at the heart of Long Island, as one of 4 university centers of the State University of New York (SUNY). Today Stony Brook is recognized as one of the best education and scholarship centers in the nation, and has even garnered international acclaim. London's "Times Higher Education World University Rankings" lists the institution among the top 1 percent of all universities in the world.

A Top Department of Physics and Astronomy

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is located within the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook University. Students have the opportunity to conduct studies and research in virtually all areas of physics, including particle, nuclear, optical physics and cosmology.The department has been widely recognized for being among the best in the nation. In regards to their work with the Hadron Collider, ScienceWatch.com named Stony Brook 8th best overall in the U.S., which includes national laboratories, and 3rd best university. One of the most prestigious rankings in the U.S., the National Research Council named the department 14th in the nation in its "Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs." And "U.S. News and World Report" has consistently ranked the department's graduate programs within the top 25 in the nation while Nuclear Physics has been ranked in the top 5 nationwide.

State-of-the-Art Research Facilities in Physics and Astronomy

In addition to offering many onsite research facilities, Stony Brook University is the co-manager and largest user of the nearby Brookhaven National Laboratory, whose facilities focus on the research of physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences. The lab operates a number of major scientific facilities, including the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Other research in collaboration with Brookhaven National Laboratory Stony Brook is the Dark Energy Science Collaboration of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Students within the department also work closely with the CN Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, a top center for high-energy physics, string theory, and statistical mathematics, and the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics that focuses on the interaction between mathematics and physics. Research opportunities in Physical Biology are offered in collaboration with the Laufer Center which has state of the art computational facilities, while state of the art Computational Physics by faculty in condensed matter and astrophysics is performed at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science.

Doctoral Program in Physics

The Department of Physics and Astronomy offers one of the largest Ph.D. programs of its kind in the nation. Including those offered by the Brookhaven National Laboratory, students have access to research possibilities in virtually all areas of physics and astronomy. Ph.D. students are expected to conduct research and overcome new challenges within their specific area of interest, and are given flexibility in their requirements to reach this goal. Many Ph.D. alumni hold faculty positions at institutions around the nation and all over the world, while others hold leading positions in government and industry, or go on to related careers in such areas as medical physics or analysis in technology and financial settings. Apart from the default degree, the department offers 3 concentrations for the PhD degree, a concentration in astronomy, a concentration in physical biology and a concentration in chemical physics.

A Variety of Master's Degrees in Physics

The physics and astronomy department gears its courses of study and research toward helping students to earn a Ph.D. degree, but the department also offers 3 master's degrees: the Master of Science in Physics with Concentration in Instrumentation (M.S.I.), the Master of Arts (M.A.) in Physics, and the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.). Many students, including exchange students, or students on their way to the Ph.D. choose to complete the M.A. program. The M.S.I. program is popular among those interested in instrumentation for physical research. The M.A.T. is offered by the School of Professional Development, and is available for students who want to teach high school level physics.

Supported by an Award-Winning Faculty

Faculty members from Stony Brook have been the recipients of such prestigious awards as the Fields Medal, Pulitzer Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and National Medal of Science. The university even counts 3 Nobel Prize winners among its faculty. Faculty members within the Department of Physics and Astronomy are no exception.

For instance, Professors Dill and Jacka and Members of the National Academy of Science, Professors Allen, Koch, Kharzeev, Metcalf, Paul Shuryak, Sprouse and Verbaarschot are recipients of the Humboldt Award, Professors McCoy and van Niewenhuizen are winners of the Heineman Prize, Professor Sterman is winner of the Sakurai Prize.

Financial Aid, Prizes and Awards Available for Physics Graduate Students

Kiplinger names Stony Brook among their 100 best values in public colleges, in part because of the university's commitment to offering a wide range of financial aid sources. Students can apply for grants, scholarships, loan programs, and employment programs through the campus financial aid office. The university also allocates tuition scholarship budgets to each program director to distribute among students in their program.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy also offers a number of recruitment awards and departmental awards to students who qualify, including the Graduate Council Fellowship, Max Dresden Prize, Peter B. Kahn Fellowships and the postdoctoral achievement award.

National Ratings of Stony Brook University

Stony Brook University has been ranked among the top universities in the nation by a number of independent sources. "U.S. News and World Report" ranked Stony Brook in their top 100 best national universities and top 50 public national universities. The "Wall Street Journal" ranked it eighth among public universities with students going on to elite graduate programs. And the National Science Foundation recognizes Stony Brook among the top 10 universities for integrating research with undergraduate education.